The 2003 draft budget has gotten off to a running start with the early approval of the draft law for the budget by the Lebanese government, paving its way forward to the Parliament.

However, is such early ratification the important financial indicator that the government claims it is? In actual fact, the parliament will not start studying the budget before the second parliamentary session that begins on October 22, 2002, and has until the end of January 2003 to approve it.

Budget Allocations

Hariri’s budget for 2003 envisages a slow-down in expenditure growth, with LL 8,520 billion ($5.6 billion) in expenditures and LL 6,400 billion ($4.2 billion) in revenues, resulting in a deficit of 24.8%. This is in comparison to the budgeted figures for 2002, which reached expenditures of LL 9,375 billion ($6.2 billion) and revenues of LL 5,500 billion ($3.6 billion), equivalent to a deficit of 41%.

The projected decrease in the budget deficit is the result of an LL 855 billion ($567 million) reduction in expenditures (equivalent to 9.1%) and an increase of LL 900 billion ($597 million) in revenues (equivalent to 16.3%). ...Full Story